Scars
by Dixie-Filly
Summary: Oneshot- Yagari is reported missing and Zero sets out to search for his master. A story about the bonds between a broken student and his teacher who is like a father as Zero has to care for his wounded master in the midst of a dangerous situation.


**My first one shot whoo hoo! Ok ok so I took a tiny break from my larger story Save Me to write this little piece. Sorry I've been watching all seasons of The Walking Dead and I'm on a Yagari craze right now so...yeah it kinda can be seen here lol. Anywho I just thought we needed a story about the close bond between Zero and Yagari since we don't get to see much of it. So...here ya go :)**

The acrid and bitter scent of smoke invaded my nose as I wrenched open the door to the idiot Cross' house. Of course as soon as I stepped in and slung my bag in the corner of the little entrance room, I heard Cross' voice gasp just as a jarring clanking sent a pulse of pain through my head. "Dear God," I mumbled under my breath while pinching the bridge of my nose. Against my will, I began to make my way into the smoky kitchen before the crazy old man burned down the house. It wasn't a surprise to me as I stalked into the foggy room to find a pan of God knows what splattered all over the floor, a certain scatterbrained blond moron in bunny slippers desperately trying not to let the skillet of what used to be chicken go up in flames, in which of course he was failing at that as well. As if the situation could not get any better, the smoke alarms began their earsplitting cries that Cross should never be allowed in a kitchen.

"Oh dear, oh dear," Cross mumbled to himself over and over as he began to lose his composure, his blond hair beginning to fall into his eyes in his frenzy.

_There is no possible way this idiot is the same Kaien Cross that used to be the most lethal vampire hunter in the world…_I thought to myself as I sighed and entered the warzone to do damage control. At the sound of my footsteps, the old man turned his frazzled face to mine, a stupid grin of relief instantly lighting up as I scowled at him.

"Zero! Thank goodness, do you think you could…" he began to babble, but I was too tired and exasperated to listen to it.

"You know, if you turned the eye off of _high_ then things wouldn't set on fire quite as quickly," I muttered irritably as I stepped over the slop on the floor and turned the stove off, but I doubt he heard me over the screams of the smoke alarms. The longer they kept going on and on the more my nerves became unraveled. I completely ignored the babbling and red faced Cross as I stepped between him and the stove, the sight of his childish face only making my temper worse.

"I…I'm sorry Zero," I heard him quietly say behind me as I grabbed the skillet, now filled with the charred ashes of the chicken, and headed over to the trashcan to scrape the catastrophe off. "I know you've been through a lot lately and…well I wanted to do something special for you," he said dejectedly with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. I remained silent and kept my eyes off of him as I walked back to the sink and dumped the pan into the soapy water. I wanted more than anything for him to shut up, because every word that was coming out of his stupid mouth now was just making me even angrier. The sad thing was I couldn't understand why. I hoped my silence would send him the message to keep his mouth shut, but I guess I was setting my hopes too high. "Hey Zero…um, are you ok?" I heard his too soft voice ask cautiously as I bent down to pick up the fallen pan of slop from the floor. For some reason, that just sent me through the roof. I felt my face burn with anger as I snatched myself up from the floor and fling the pan into the sink, water and suds splashing everywhere. I heard the old man gasp as he flinched away from my outburst, making my chest hurt even worse.

"I'm going to bed," I growled between clinched teeth before I really lost control of myself and caused a scene. I never let my eyes fall on the man's face as I stalked out of the room. The last thing I wanted was to look into another pair of eyes that I had hurt. Thankfully he didn't try to follow me as I quickly climbed the stairs and flung open my door. After slamming it behind me I yanked off my school jacket and fumbled with the buttons on my wrinkled shirt. I hadn't felt so miserable before in my life as I sighed again and ran my hands through my hair as I shuffled to my bed. Without stopping to pull back the sheets I fell onto the mattress with a thud, my arm over my face as I desperately tried to make my own mind shut up for just five minutes, but of course that too was next to impossible. I laid there for a few minutes just focusing on my quiet breathing, but no matter how hard I fought it, I couldn't stop the pain in my chest from nearly suffocating me, nor could I stop the painful memories that flooded into my tired mind. With a groan of frustration I snatched myself onto my side and thrust my fist into my pillow.

_Stop…please…please stop…it hurts…_I thought as I squeezed my eyes shut against the memories. The memories of my brother, the pain and hate he held in his eyes and in his heart because he thought I didn't care for him. The memories of him so weak and frail as he lay dying in my arms, as he begged me to drain the life from him. My precious brother is dead…because of me. But the memories that hurt the worst…are the ones of her. Yuki…my Yuki…she also died, but her ghost is out there as the very beast I hate reminding me every day of what I can never have. Of what I never had in the first place. "Stop…stop it," I whispered pathetically to myself as my mind filled with images of her sweet smile, her delicate face laced with worry over me…all I ever did was make her worry.

I was finally able to just lay in the quiet darkness, my body numb as my eyes absently mindedly stared at the ceiling fan above me slowly going around in circles. I heard the phone ring downstairs, but it didn't really register with me. My peace was broken however as I heard a light tap on the door a few minutes later.

"Zero?" I heard Cross' voice softly ask from behind the door. "Can I come in?" he asked as I continued to stare at the ceiling as I lay on my back.

"Yeah," I dryly said, the door cracking open just seconds after. Soon I could see the glint of Cross' glasses as he slowly hung his head inside the door, a strange and heavy aura seeming to come from the usually hyperactive man. He didn't put in to turn on the lights nor did he come inside, he just stood there with a few strands of his blond hair hanging in his face. My skin began to feel icy as the heaviness in the room grew. It was like the man couldn't bring himself to say whatever it was he needed to tell me.

"Headmaster?" I asked cautiously as I sat up, my eyes desperately trying to read his expression through the darkness.

"That was the Association…on the phone," he said slowly, his finger nervously twisting one of the strands on his shawl. "You…you haven't heard from Toga have you?" he asked quietly, too much caution in his voice.

"N…no, why? What's going on," I asked confused as I got up turned on the light, facing the blond hunter directly. When I met his eyes, it scared me at the graveness they bore as they turned to the floor. I watched stunned as the man sighed heavily as he ran his hand nervously through his bangs. "Cross, what's going on?" I demanded, the threat of panic beginning to bloom inside me.

"You know that assignment he went out on about a week ago?" he asked as his heavy eyes turned back to me.

I stared quietly for a moment as I wracked my mind. "Yeah, it wasn't anything Master couldn't handle by himself," I said quickly, my voice beginning to betray me in hiding my panic. "He said it would take a day or so, he should be back at headquarters by now…

"He's not," Kaien said mechanically, my own heart seeming to stop dead in my chest.

"W…What?" I breathed in disbelief.

"They lost contact with him a few days ago," Cross said heavily as he shifted his weight nervously.

"Yeah, but you know Master runs off whenever he wants to…" I began to say, more to comfort myself, but Cross cut me off.

"But not before he gets the job done, and that means returning back to headquarters and giving a report. You know as much as he hates them he will always finish his job," the blond hunter, just an hour before a babbling mess, said with all seriousness as his eyes took on a maturity well beyond his youthful features.

Wordless, I nodded my head with a tight face, my nails digging into the doorframe.

"They want you to search for him at first light tomorrow morning…" he said quietly. "I'll go with you too…"

"No," I said stonily, cutting him off. "He's my master and I'll bring him back," I said resolutely as I stared Cross in the eyes. The famed hunter nodded understandingly.

"I know you will," he said softly as he gently patted my shoulder, and with that, he left me standing alone in the doorway, the silence that filled the house enough to suffocate me.

* * *

I was already into town by the time the sun began to peak out of the hazy purple and blue clouds, the rays streaking through like pulsing veins. A light breeze blew at my grey coat, the cold steel of the Bloody Rose safely against my side. I didn't sleep at all the night before, but fatigue was the farthest thing from my mind at the moment. I felt more on edge than ever as I yanked a map out of my coat pocket and searched for the little town Master had been sent to take care of a few level Es. I judged it would be about a two hour journey if I took a train, so I wasted no time getting to the nearest station. I must have seemed like a paranoid nervous wreck to the other passengers who were patiently waiting for the train to arrive, since I couldn't sit still for more than three minutes at a time, but in a way, I was a paranoid nervous wreck. Finally, when I thought I was going to chew right through the side of my thumb, the high pitched squeal of the train's whistle could be heard as the ground began to vibrate with its arrival. The constant chatter and noise of the passengers made me more anxious as we finally pulled out, but I was eventually able to calm myself somewhat by watching the passing countryside.

_Where are you? _I began to mentally ask, as if the man who was like my second father could hear me and answer me. The sounds of crying babies, giggling girls, and loud mouthed boys began to fade as I leaned my head back and continued to watch the passing green pastures and fruit orchards. _You've never left us like this before…don't…don't leave me too…_

* * *

I was the only one who got off in the little town, which in a way I was thankful for. The rural little town was quiet as I began to make my way through, only, as I quickly realized, it was far too quiet. I saw pastures, hog pens, chicken coops…but there wasn't the first animal in sight. Children's bikes were abandoned in the middle of the dirt roads that snaked across the village, doors that looked like they had been thrown open remained gaping. My heart began to thump violently in my chest as I stopped in the middle of the town that seemed to have stopped in time. My hand reached for the Bloody Rose, a slight relief washing over me as I drew it and flicked the safety off as I cautiously continued to walk down toward the main part of the town. The breeze blew my hair into face, my jacket brushing against my legs as I heard a soft rustle to my left. The icy trickle of adrenaline flowed down my spine as I raised my weapon at the sound, my eyes frantically searching for the source. A glint of hazel caught my eye as I watched a little girl in a pink dress, her hazel curly hair blowing in the wind, as she began to walk toward me.

"H…hey there," I tried to say to maybe find out where everyone was, but at the sound of my voice, the girl started running toward me, and that's when I knew. Without wasting another second I raised my gun at the creature who was headed toward me, it's blazing eyes now visible to me as it scrambled over an old farm truck to get at me. The shot was deafening in such a deathly quiet place, the creature bursting into a pile of ash as I lowered my gun, but it wasn't quiet for long. I heard the sound of crashing come from the house to my right and as soon as I had the bloody Rose up again, three level Es came bursting out of the front window, the glass tearing into their rotten skin not fazing them in the least. I shot the two that used to be women first, their long and tangled hair flying as they disintegrated. My hands were steady as I brought down the man, his hideous claws clutching at his throat before he too fell apart.

_Why are there so many? What is this…_my mind raced as I heard a guttural shriek come from behind me. When I turned around however, I thought I was going fall down from shock. "Oh my God," I breathed as I watched level Es come boiling out of an old barn not too far down the road away from me. I couldn't count how many there were, but they were all intent on sinking their decaying fangs into my neck. Knowing I couldn't take on all of them at once, I began to run toward the inside of the town, my blood like ice. I had trained long and hard and I had seen a lot, but nothing could have prepared me for this. My lungs burned with the intensity of the shock, but the encroaching mob of bloodthirsty corpses behind me drove me on. Before I could take another step however, something slammed into me with an ungodly force, knocking me off my feet and throwing me into the ground with a loud thud. I felt my breath jarred away from me as the back of my head smacked against the hard clay of the road, but my instincts had my hand holding back yet another red eyed beast that was snapping for my throat. I gritted my teeth against the pain of holding the monster back, my arm shaking with effort as my other finally got ahold of my gun. Before I could take aim and fire however, the beast broke free of my grasp and slapped at my face, a gasp of pain escaping me as I felt the side of my face slashed. The level Es little outburst however, bought me enough time to put the barrel of the Bloody Rose to it's head and fire. Without hesitating I was back on my feet and running at breakneck speed down the clay road until something caught my eye. A hat. Master's hat. Outside of a small little yellow farm house with white trim.

I almost fell over myself I turned so sharply. I saw the door was yanked open as I flew up the steps, slamming the wooden door behind me and locking it. My breath caught in my chest as I turned around and found yet another level E, it looked to be a young woman in a tattered powder blue dress, but it didn't pay me any attention as it was licking something off the floor. Shock held me motionless for a second as I watched it lap at the floor furiously like a starved animal, her knotted and tangled hair splaying around her grotesque face. With a grimace I quickly did away with the creature. After making sure nothing else was going to try to kill me, I walked over to where the pile of ashes lay and got on my now violently shaking hands and knees, my breath coming in heaving pants as sweat fell from my face.

Blood. An entire trail of it was trickled all over the floor, staining the white linoleum kitchen floor. Muddy footprints followed alongside the trail…

_No…no it can't be…_my mind began to race as I shakily got up and followed the morbid trail into the kitchen, ignoring my own blood that was beginning to trickle down my face. My legs nearly buckled under me as I entered the little room, my eyes falling on a torn up and bloodstained tan jacket that was flung on the floor, the kitchen a mess from an apparent struggle. There were broken dishes everywhere, a door to one of the wooden cabinets pulled off the hinges.

"Master?" my voice called in a panic, all the toughness I tried to hide behind as a hunter melting away as fear gripped me. I swallowed hard and continued to follow the trail, where it stopped in front of what seemed to be a washroom door. My head swam as I looked up and saw the claw marks on the outside of the door, long strips of wood and white paint littering the floor. My breath was coming in ragged pants as I dropped to my knees and gently knocked on the marred door. "Master it's me, Zero," I breathed, trying to maintain my composure, but it was getting harder and harder by the second. I snatched my hand to the knob only to find it locked, and then to my horror that it locked from the outside. Without letting another second pass I flicked the lock and snatched open the tattered door. There in front of me, slumped against the dryer, which was stained with his blood, was the man who had risked his own life and lost his own eye for me. His chest was covered in angry gashes and lacerations, his white collared shirt torn and plastered to his skin because of the bleeding wounds. But that wasn't what scared me the most. My eyes fell on the pool of blood that surrounded his left leg, his jeans torn and completely saturated in crimson. My hands were shaking terribly as I was about to scramble in to him, but the smell of so much…the metallic scent…made me reel backwards.

_No…no, not now…dammit not now!_ I screamed at myself as I clutched my head and gasped against the wave of pain that hit me. I groaned against the monster inside me that wanted to devour the red liquid, but as my eyes fell on the pale and lifeless face of my mentor, I gained a new strength over the bloodlust that threatened to control me. With determination I got up and hurriedly went to my Master's side, all traces of the beast within me fading. "Hey, Master wake up," I said in a panic as I gently shook his arm, but I didn't get any response. I quickly grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse, a sigh of relief escaping me as I found one, although it was weak and erratic. An idea popped into my head as I jumped up and scrambled into the kitchen, flinging open the cabinet doors until found the glasses. After filling one with cool water, I returned to my master's side. "Don't you quit on me," I said softly but sternly as I took his scarred face in my hand and began to carefully pour the cool liquid down his flushed skin, careful not to get it near his bad eye. A soft moan escaped him as a small smile crept across my face, some of my anxiety fading. "I'm here, I'm right here," I said softly again as the water continued to bring the wounded hunter around. Finally, a single blue eye appeared from under heavy lids.

"Master…hey it's…" but my voice was cut off by the world's number one vampire hunter's still strong hands locking onto my arms in a death grip. I was so stunned by his sudden move that I could only stare speechless as his blue eye bored into my own wild and confused, his raven black hair thrown into his face as he sat panting. "M…master, it's ok," I said slowly as I found my voice again. The man's arms were shaking as they held me, the blue eye that stared into mine blurry, but wild with fear. I had never seen that kind of fear in the eyes of Toga Yagari before, nor did I think I ever would again. "Master it's me, Zero," I said again completely calm. I felt the grip on my arms begin to relax as the man's breathing slowed.

"Z…Zero," he breathed as his hands fell away from me, the fog lifting from his single eye. But with his regained consciousness, came the reality of pain. I reached out and caught my master as a wave of pain seized his body, his breath hitching at every movement.

"Easy, easy," I said quietly as I supported him, his breathing faster again.

"You…you made it," he panted as I gently leaned him back against the dryer. "You got…cut up though…" he said as he eyed my face.

"I wasn't going anywhere without you, and you are worse off than I am" I said seriously while slowly raising myself up, his blue eye watching me from under his mess of black hair. "I'll be right back ok," I said as I hurriedly sprinted out of the kitchen and down the hall, thankful to find a bedroom at the first door way.

"Do you think you could walk just far enough to get into that bedroom right outside the kitchen?" I asked as I returned to the bloodied man.

"Walk…no…limp…maybe," his deep voice said between labored breaths, but I was relieved he still had his cocky attitude.

"Alright, just go slow," I said while slipping his arm around my neck and threading my other around his waist. "Ready, 1, 2, 3," I said I began to steady and lift the wounded hunter, a sharp hiss of pain escaping him as we finally made it up. "Easy, just breathe a minute…"I tried to say, but of course he was going to be stubborn.

"Let's…just get this…over with," he panted as we began the long and painful process of moving from one room to another. I could feel his warm blood seeping onto my arm as we moved at a snail's pace, and he knew it as well. "You…ok," he asked after taking another hobbling step. He didn't need to explain what he meant for me to understand.

"I'm fine, how about you just worry about getting yourself in that bed for now ok," I said with a bit of irritation, trying to mask the heartbreak that he was still worried about me when he could barely move himself. It scared me, how weak and vulnerable he was. Even when he lost his eye, he was still strong as he picked me up and carried me out of the bloodstained scene with his face a mutilated mess. But now, if I so much as let go of him, he could do little more than crumple to the floor. A new trail of crimson marked the floor as we shuffled along, my own probably mixed in somewhere as I felt something drip from the smarting wound on my face. Surprisingly however, it was as if my senses were shut off, something I am eternally grateful for. For the first time in years, I was able to withstand the smell of blood.

After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally helping the injured hunter to sit on the little bed that had an old quilt draped across the end. I winced as a breathless groan of pain escaped him as his broken body demanded to stop moving. I didn't like how he had gotten so pale, nor did I like the way he was breathing so hard as sweat rolled down his face as he sat hunched over. "Hey, you alright?" I asked cautiously as I gently put my hand on his shoulder. He didn't answer me as he continued to fight to catch his breath. "Don't you pass out on me," I said trying to hide my growing worry, but my comment caused him to snap his eye at me quickly.

"I'm…no…pansy," he muttered at me in irritation through tired breaths, which brought a smirk to my face.

"Yeah, I know," I said quietly as I straightened. "I'm going to find something to clean you up and try to fix this mess with," I said over my shoulder as I headed to the little bathroom that was a part of the bedroom. In no time I was on my knees once again digging through the many cabinets under the sink, throwing anything I could to the right of me. The rustic little bathroom soon looked like a tornado had gone through it as I tore through the closet as well. Thankfully, there was a small first aid kit and an ample supply of gauze and bandages, which I prayed was enough to address the wounds properly. I guessed that being a farm town, people expected accidents to happen, just…not like this. After locating a bowl and filling it warm water, I brought my new found haul into the bedroom; Master still exactly as I had left him.

"How long were you trapped in there?" I asked quietly as I came to sit on the bed beside the wounded hunter. I reached up and gingerly began to undo what buttons were left on his tattered and stained white shirt.

"I don't know," he said quietly, my hands freezing for a second at his words. "Two of those things cornered me in here, nearly knocked me out in kitchen trying to get to my neck, but I managed to fight my way into the washroom and…I don't really remember much after that," his deep voice said as I began to peel the ruined fabric away from his damaged skin. I heard his breath catch in his chest as it pulled on the many angry lacerations.

"Did those two do this to you?" I asked through my teeth as I flung the bloodstained shirt to the floor and grabbed the cloth from the bowl of water, wringing it out as I thought of the level E that I found licking his blood off of the floor. "Bear with me," I said quietly while gently beginning to wash the many wounds that covered his chest.

"No…there were," he paused to suck in his breath as I cleaned one of the large lacerations, but I just softened my touch quietly without a word, knowing he didn't want to listen to me say "sorry" a hundred times. "They were everywhere," he breathed, his voice seeming far way. I shuddered as I remembered the masses of the creatures boiling out of the barn. I don't think I had ever seen Master so unnerved. "I was taking down four of them climbing down from a roof and…the next thing I know is that they are swarming me from all sides," he said heavily. A shiver ran down my spine as I moved to examine his back, finding it crisscrossed and marred with claw marks as well.

_What have we gotten ourselves thrown into…_I wondered morbidly while dipping the cloth in the water again, which was now taking on a hue of crimson. After I finished cleaning the wounds and applying the antibiotic ointment I had found in the first aid kit, I did the best I could to wrap the white and gauzy bandages around my Master's torso. When I was finished, he seemed pleased enough with my work, and thankfully some of the color was returning to his face. "Now when I come back," I said as I helped him to lie down on the sweet scented sheets, "We are going to see about that leg," And with that, I went to the bathroom to change the water and grab a pair of scissors. I heard the hunter curse under his breath as I carefully pulled off the boot from his injured leg, dismayed to find blood all over it.

"I liked those jeans," he said sarcastically as I began to cut away at the tough fabric just above the knee.

"Well I'll like it when you are on your feet again," I replied with a smirk as I finally finished cutting the section free and down the side. My fingers worked carefully to peel the fabric away from the obscured wound, but it stubbornly clung to the angry flesh. The hunter gasped and cursed again as I gritted my teeth and continued to pull the fabric away. "I'm sorry," I said quickly, my heart aching at his pain. Finally the denim pulled free, revealing the threatening wound below, but I wasn't prepared for what I found and the only thing I could do was stare stupidly as I listened to Master pant for air.

His entire left calf was a strange and sickly bruised yellow and purple color, the veins dark and streaking. The leg was grossly swollen, and that's when I noticed the two open and leaking wounds. Bite wounds. And they were deep and horribly infected. I tried to gingerly move the skin to get a better look, but my hand snatched away quickly as Master's body tried to flinch away from me as he yelped in pain. "Dammit," I breathed as I felt like everything was crashing around me.

"How…bad?" Master asked through labored breaths as I stared dumbly.

"I uh…it's," I tried to wrack my brain for something hopeful, but of course the man I spent the majority of my life with could see through me.

"Don't…skip around…it," he said sternly as he attempted to sit up, but I quickly prevented him from doing so.

"No, no," I said a bit too quickly as I gently pushed the confused man back down onto the sheets. His face was one of bewilderment and suspicion as his single blue eye stared into mine. "Don't get up…just...just don't," I said, knowing my voice was showing way too much. I quickly placed my hand on the utterly confused man's forehead, trying my hardest not to shiver as I felt his skin burn beneath my own.

"Zero?" I heard the man's voice say quietly as I pulled away and tore my hand through my hair.

_It's only a matter of time before that infection gets in his blood…if it hasn't already. I have no way of getting in touch with Cross and there's no way I can go outside. We're stuck and I don't have a lot of time before this gets bad…_

"Zero?" Master's cautious voice brought me out of my jumbled and frantic thoughts. I whirled around with my thumb between my teeth to find him watching me. "What did I tell you about chewing on your fingers?" he said with a slight smirk. "I thought you were a grown man now, so why don't you calmly tell me what's going on like grown men do," he said with growing seriousness.

With a heavy sigh I sat on the bed beside him, refusing to look at the mess his leg was as I kept my eyes on his. "You got bit, pretty badly. It's infected and it's…it's bad," I said while trying not to let my voice crack. I saw his clear blue eye widen for a second at my words, but then it was as if I hadn't told him anything was wrong.

"You gotta open it up," he said as if he was telling me to turn the light on or to get him a glass of water.

"Wh…what?" I stammered as I stared at his calm face in shock, my hands trembling even more now.

"You can do it. If you drain it, clean it out, and cauterize it, it could give me a chance at fighting it…" he calmly explained as I began to shake my head.

"I can't! What if I hit a blood vessel and you bleed to death? What if I made it worse? I don't want to hurt you…" I said panicked, my voice raising as I was losing my grip on my emotions, but I was stopped short as I felt his strong hand once again grab my arm.

"If you don't do it, you're not giving me a chance at all," he said gravely. His words stung but I knew they were true as buried my face in palm. "I can't do it myself this time. There I said it," he said in a softer tone. "I need you Zero," he said quietly, his words soft but frightening to me all at the same time. I never heard his voice soft like that, not unless Ichiru or I were sick as children, or when our parents died. But that was for me. For the first time, I was taking care of him as he lay helpless and dependent upon me, and I hated it. I couldn't seem to stop screwing up lately, and I couldn't lose the last person I cared about.

"Ok…ok," I breathed as my hands still refused to quit shaking. "When?" I asked flatly, already dreading each passing second.

"Sooner rather than later," the gruff man's voice replied, still showing no signs of stress or worry.

"Fine, but…would you please just…just rest for a few minutes and drink some water or something," I blabbered dumbly. "I don't know how long you were stuck in there and…it's not safe to do that kind of stuff when you're dehydrated," I said quietly, trying to hide my face from my now softly smirking mentor.

"Yeah," he said lightly after letting out a soft chuckle. "I can do that for you," he said while reaching up and ruffling my hair, which I would have normally snatched away from, but things weren't normal anymore. I don't think the man realized how dehydrated he was until he tasted the cool water I offered him. I realized he must have been out longer than either of us had thought as I supported him as he drank glass after glass.

"I guess I'm going to see what else I can find," I muttered more to myself as my Master was resting quietly, his blue eye opening and flicking up to me. I shot him a tiny grin before walking into the wreck of a kitchen and rifling through the medicine cabinet. Of course I couldn't find any high powered pain killers, and I was pretty sure Tylenol was not going to mask the blade of a knife. Luckily I found a half full bottle of antibiotics, mentally thanking the person who previously lived here for not following the doctor's instructions of finishing them all. I also found a bottle of iodine antiseptic scrub, which gave me just a bit more relief. After going through once again, I decided the cabinet didn't hold anything else useful. Next I tore through the refrigerator and upper shelves for any kind of alcohol, knowing that if I could get him drunk, the pain wouldn't be as sharp. But to my dismay, the house seemed to belong to an elderly woman or couple that didn't stock hard liquor. Frustrated, I returned to the bedroom with the iodine and pill bottle.

"Take these," I said while holding out two of the pills and helping the injured man to sit up. "Better to be in your system before rather than after," I sighed, knowing the time was coming.

"Zero, you'll do fine, so quit worrying so much," Master said after he swallowed the pills.

"I know," I breathed absent mindedly, my heart beginning to beat faster as the minutes drew near. "I couldn't find any painkillers or booze," I said heavily, not wanting to look the man whose leg I was about to cut into in the eye.

"It's alright," he said quietly as I carefully set everything I needed out on a small folding table I had drug in the room beside the bed. I gently lifted his injured leg just enough to place a towel underneath so I could clean it, which caused him to wince. I myself had to keep my eyes open as I winced while I took a damp gauze I had poured the scrub into and touched down on the angry flesh. I felt him desperately fighting not to flinch away from me as I proceeded to carefully clean the wound with gritted teeth, a groan of pain escaping him as his hand flew up behind him to grasp one of the iron bars of the bed frame in a death grip. I worked quickly, seeing that he was now also biting down on his thumb to keep his composure. I finished with trembling hands as I pulled the damp towel away and replaced it with a new one, Master breathing hard with his eye closed as he lay quietly.

_My God, if it's this painful just to touch it, and Master's no wimp, I don't know how he's going to make it through a blade going through it…_I sighed desperately. I guess the man had a sixth sense for my worrying.

"Zero, it's alright," he said calmly in his deep voice, his head turning on the fluffy white pillow so he could see me. "Sit down for a second," he said calmly, his voice reminding me of the days when he was training me. I obeyed as I always did, carefully sitting next to him as the mattress squeaked under me. He grimaced as he struggled to prop himself up on the pillows, my hands instinctively reaching out to help. "Zero, I want you to make me a promise," the hunter said as my eyes widened.

"Ah, sure…anything," I said as I wracked my brain to try to figure out where this was going.

"You have to promise me, that no matter what I say…that no matter how much I cuss and yell…that you won't stop," he said seriously as his piercing blue eye looked intently at me. "Don't hesitate, you block everything else out do you understand me? Do what needs to be done. If you can't promise me that, then there's no point in doing this," he said somberly as I felt my heart wrench.

_Can I do it? Can I cut into him like that as he's yelling and writhing in ungodly pain and not flinch away. To show no mercy? But…if I don't…he'll die in a matter of days, slowly and painfully. That kind of death is not mercy. This man has done a lot of hard things for me, and now it's time for me to return the favor…_

"I promise Master," I said as I took his strong and calloused hand in my own, a determination burning in me I hadn't felt in a long time. "I won't let you down," I said as I squeezed his warm hand, a small grin creeping across his face.

"You never do," he said while patting my shoulder, a tiny smile finding it's way onto my face.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't calm my thundering heart as I held the blade of my knife over the open flame of the gas stove. I watched as the metal grew to burn bright red and yellow on the tip, and then as it disappeared as I brought it away. I tried to swallow a massive lump that would not go away in the back of my throat as I entered the bedroom once again. I marveled at the composure my master had as he lay quietly waiting for me, not a nervous air to be found as he looked up at me. "Hey, don't look so down, this is payback for me shooting you in the shoulder a year ago," he said with a smirk. "I was kind of an ass about that," he chuckled lightly as I shook my head.

"Yeah, you were, but I'm one all the time so it's ok," I replied with a grin, a laugh escaping him as I sat down beside him again.

"You can do it, don't worry," he said while extending his hand, which I grasped with both of my own.

"Yeah, you ready?" I asked quietly as I released his hand.

"No, but I don't really have much choice do I?" he said as he pulled himself up on the pillows. "Hand me one of those," he said as he pointed to the pile of dishtowels I had stacked. I guess he saw my confused expression when he said, "You don't want me ringing a dinner bell for those level Es now do you?"

My heart stopped for a second as it registered, but now was not the time to feel sorry. "Don't you quit on me, you promise me that or there's no point in doing this," I said as I got up from the bed and faced him, trying desperately to keep my voice from wavering.

"It's a deal," he said as he wrapped the towel around his fist, my heart pounding faster. With a nod, I turned with the sterilized knife to his wounded leg. My eyes quickly scanned and detected the best place to do it as my fingers gently came to rest by the site to guide me.

"Alright, here we go," my violently shaking voice managed to sputter out as I held my breath, bringing the blade's tip to the top of the discolored skin.

_Don't hesitate, just do it…_I mentally steeled myself as I watched the hunter bite down on the dishtowel out of the corner of my eye. It seemed as if everything, my heart, our breathing, as if time itself, just stopped as the blade entered the damaged skin. Of course, after that second of silence, everything seemed to speed up three times as fast. My ears were slammed with the strangled yell of my second father as I desperately tried to block my mind and finish what I had started. His muffled cries of pain made my head swim as I took the blade across the length of the wound. Strangely, everything seemed to slow down and quite down once again as I focused only on my job at hand. I set the bloodied knife away as I drained the infection from the now livid wound , a pile of soiled dishtowels growing beside me. When I was sure I had gotten it all, I took a pitcher of warm salt water and rinsed the wound as best I could. After toweling it as dry as I could get it, I grabbed the knife again washed it in the remaining water. It was when I stood to go reheat the blade once again that I noticed that the room was awfully quiet. I quickly flung myself at my Master's side to find that he had lost consciousness, his face deathly pale and covered in sweat, his raven hair sticking to the sides of his face. I was relieved when I found he was breathing ok, although his pulse was a bit to erratic for my liking, but I figured this was for the best. I had to steady my hand as I held the blade over the open flame, my arm shaking violently as the entire silver blade turned a bright orange. I wasted no time sprinting back into the room to cauterize the bleeding wound, the blood stopping where the hot blade sealed the skin. Finally I was able to properly dress and wrap the wound in clean gauze.

I could finally breathe again as I took the quilt from the foot of the bed and draped the soft blanket over my worn out master as he had done for me so many times in my childhood when I had fallen asleep by his side on the couch. "Well, I did my part, now it's your turn to keep up your end of the deal," I said quietly while taking a cool cloth and wiping the sweat from the hunter's pale face, my fingers brushing his wavy black locks from his closed eye. Finding a small chair in the corner of the room, I grabbed it and took a seat beside my teacher. For the first time, it hit me that I had never seen the man in such a state before. Sure I had seen him asleep, my brother and I practically lived at his house, and if we weren't there, he was at ours. No, I had never seen him so still and quiet, vulnerable and dependent. My eyes fell on the old scar from where the man had taken Ichiru's blade in his own shoulder to save my brother's life. The skin was dark and puckered, an eternal reminder of the lengths he would go to for us. For some reason, I reached my hand out and gingerly traced the ugly scar, my fingers rising and falling in time with his breathing. A sigh escaped me as I remembered him pleading with my brother to believe him when he said he always thought of him as his student. That was one thing I could say for sure. Master never played favorites with us.

"Why do you always have to get the worst of everything?" I muttered as I surveyed the array of new scars that were to come. But of course, the most obvious, and the most painful for me to look at was his eye. The same familiar crushing guilt flooded into me as I carefully slid my finger under the leather eye patch, carefully sliding it up until the awful wound I had caused was visible. The dark, discolored flesh was so starkly contrasting to the rest of his lightly tanned skin it made me shudder. Jagged claw marks went straight across where his other equally piercing eye used to be, the lid forever closed as the marks continued across his face.

_If I had only listened…why…why is it I only end up hurting the ones that mean the most to me…_I began to mentally tear myself apart, the last bit of my nerves that were holding up beginning to unravel.

"I thought I told you…to quit…looking at me…like that," a raspy and low voice broke into my thoughts, nearly causing me to jump straight out of my skin. I caught sight of a weak smirk on the still slightly pale face my master as he slowly reached up and pulled the leather patch back over his eye after whipping my head around in shock. "Where you goin' Kiryu?" he said thickly, but nonetheless sarcastically, as his blue eye shifted to me.

"M…master?" I breathed in disbelief. "You…you're ok, um, how are you feeling?" I word vomited in a rush as I watched the man grimace slightly.

"Of course…I'm ok," he mumbled through gritted teeth, obviously in pain, but he was trying his hardest not to show it. "Feel like hell though, and quit fussing and worrying over me. Starting to sound like Cross," he grumbled as he struggled to shift without causing himself more pain. I felt my face pull into a scowl at his words, but I couldn't stay mad as he chuckled at me. "Guess I shouldn't tick you off when I can't even move huh?" he said as he gave up trying to move with a sigh. "Gimme a hand? I hate being stuck flat like this," he mumbled in frustration as I stood to gingerly help him to prop himself up in a more upright position. After catching his breath and after I had returned to my bedside seat, his clear blue eye turned to meet me. "You did good Zero, saved my life," he said quietly, my face warming at bit in embarrassment.

"Yeah…you would have done the same for me though. You've done so much," I muttered with a halfway grin as I stared into my hands.

"I was trying to complement you, but whatever," the hunter sighed as he closed his eye again. I smiled lightly as I brushed my hand through my hair, my eyes watching the gruff and unruly man resting quietly again. Silence filled the room once again for some time. I thought Master had fallen asleep, something I myself was close to doing in the uncomfortable wooden chair I was sitting in, when his voice broke the silence.

"You know I don't get the worst of everything," his deep voice said quietly as I sat up again. I saw him looking out the little window to the right of the room, the white lace curtains gently blowing in the breeze. I was silent for a few seconds, trying to process his strange words when he turned to look at me seriously.

"Master…I…" I began to say confused but the hunter smirked at me softly and shook his head.

"I heard what you said," he began as he pushed himself up on the pillows. "I knew you were sitting there beating yourself up like you always do, I just wasn't where I could punch you yet," he said lightly but then his voice deepened again as I cast my eyes to the floor in guilt. "Listen up Kiryu and listen good," he said with authority in his voice as I raised my eyes to his. "This," he said while pointing to the scar on his shoulder. "And these," he added while pointing to his bandaged torso and then down at his leg, my eyes beginning to squint in confusion. "And…even this," he said slowly while reaching up to his face, wincing as his arm reached, his hand grasping the leather eye patch and slowly sliding it up and off over his head. "These are nothing more than scars, just some scratches on the paint," he said quietly as he looked at me, the marred flesh that pulled tight over the sunken right socket not even detracting from Master's determined gaze. I stared in shock as the powerful hunter before me seemed to be struggling to keep his voice from wavering. "These are merely on the surface, but I still got to keep you and Ichiru. I didn't have to suffer," he said while still looking at me earnestly, a strange feeling welling in my chest. "But dammit," he growled as he cast his eye on the sheets and ran a hand through his raven black hair. "I still couldn't save you from suffering. I couldn't protect you from the awful wounds you've had to endure, the ones that just won't heal," he said through his teeth, as if he couldn't stand himself. "I couldn't save you from losing your humanity, your parents, your brother…that girl…" he trailed off quietly as he stared at the sheets. "If I could…if I could take those wounds myself, I would," he said as his fist clenched a handful of the cream colored sheets. I was staring wide eyed and speechless as the man turned to look at me, shock filling me as I saw his blue eye was misty. "I never got to have a son, but I have to remind myself that because I could swear you are my own," he said with a small smirk, my chest swelling with emotion I hadn't felt in a long time. "You've become a man right before my eyes despite the hell you've gone through, I just wish I could've kept your heart from becoming so scarred. If anybody's failed anyone Zero, I've failed you," Master said quietly as he raised his eye to mine again, an expression I had never seen written on the man's face.

"Master no," I said quickly as I shook my head furiously. "No," I said slower as I stared at my hands in my lap. "You're the only one who hasn't lied to me, or left me, or treated me like I'm a mental patient on the verge of a breakdown," I said with a small but dark smile. "So…don't say stupid stuff like that ok, you're starting to sound like Cross," I said with a heavy grin as I looked at my master. The tired man chuckled lightly as he leaned back against the pillows. I noticed he began to look a bit pale again as he lay quietly for a second. "It hurts pretty badly huh?" I asked quietly, my eyes watching Master's face pull into a grimace as he gripped the sheets in his fist.

"The adrenaline's…wore off," he said through gritted teeth as he grasped his leather eye patch and painfully pulled it back on. "I should of just asked you to shoot me," he breathed with a tired smirk, my heart heavy because there wasn't anything I could do and we were stuck in the little farm house with no way out.

"You're not leaving me to get out of this alone," I sighed while stretching against the back of the wooden chair, my eyes growing heavier by the second.

"Go get some sleep kid, you've done enough for me for one day," Master's voice said softly as I opened my heavy eyes once again. "No use sitting here listening to me cuss every five seconds," he said with a small grin. I was always amazed at the way he read me better than my own parents ever did. "Besides, you still haven't seen about your face yet," he said as his eye fell on the gash across my cheek.

"Ok ok, but if you need anything just yell ok," I said while reaching up to the now dry cut on my face as I stiffly rose from the chair.

"What I need is a smoke and some hard liquor," the hunter mumbled as he closed his eye again, a small sheen of sweat reappearing on his pale face.

"Sorry, can't help you there," I said softly as I turned and quietly walked out of the little room. After washing my own wound and placing a bandage over the angry red mark, I found myself completely cashed out on the soft cushiony sofa in the small living room. I didn't immediately fall asleep however, Master's words were still lingering in my head as I rolled over on my back and stared at the dark ceiling. _The guilt and pain in his eye…I wonder if that's what my eyes look like all the time. He understands…and he cares. But…all those scars, and they don't even mean anything to him. He was only worried about me and Ichiru. I wonder…what would it be like if he were my father…_

* * *

The first few days of being stuck in the house were hell. Master's pain was so terrible, he couldn't even speak at some points. His skin was paler than I had ever seen and I had to force him to drink to keep from getting dehydrated. Although I was making him take the antibiotics and what fever reducers I could find, his skin still burned with fever. I spent the days wiping sweat from his brow as his raven hair clung to his face. Although he was in terrible shape, what scared me the most was that he lost his cocky attitude. In fact he barely said anything at all. He would just lay there deathly quiet. I almost wished I could hear his many streams of curse words again. By the fifth day I was growing desperate. I changed the bandages on his leg, which actually looked better, but I thought my heart was going to break when he couldn't even hold himself up so I could dress the wounds on his chest. Master's skin burned against my own as he leaned against me like a ragdoll as my hands gently wrapped the gauzy bandages around him. After a week, I refused to leave his side unless I absolutely had to. I was beginning to wonder if either of us were ever going to get out of the house alive when Chairman finally found us. It was at night. Master had fallen into an oblivious state from the high fever as I sat beside him watching but unable to do anything. I jumped when I heard the door bust open, my hand whipping out the Bloody Rose in an instant as I sprinted out of the room. To my great relief, I found Cross along with nearly the entire association standing in the doorway. We were getting out of the house.

* * *

Cross told me at the hospital that Master would have died if I hadn't of taken care of the wound. With proper medicine and care, it wasn't long before Master was back to his old self. Of course Cross forced him to stay at the house until he was completely healed, and I thought I was going to go insane from their constant arguing and fussing, but I actually began to feel happy again. It was about two weeks after the whole ordeal I found myself at the stove cooking dinner, since both Master and I placed a ban on Cross from ever entering the kitchen again. I had just put some chopped vegetables and oil in a skillet when I heard shuffling footsteps beside me. I turned to find an almost back to normal Yagari irritably hobbling into the kitchen.

"Don't you have crutches for a reason?" I said with a smirk as I stirred the steaming vegetables in the pan.

"Don't need em," the gruff man said as he finally limped beside me and rested against the marble counter top.

"Sure you don't" I said while shaking my head and turning the heat down. "You could hit Cross with them," I added with a snigger.

I heard the man chuckle softly before he said, "Yeah, if he doesn't leave me alone he'll get one in the face." It was quiet a second before he spoke again. "I wanted to thank you, for saving my life," he said softly, my head turning to meet his serious gaze. The blue eye I met was the same one that looked at me a week ago as he told me how he wanted to take my pain away.

"Don't thank me, it's what family does right?" I said as I set my spoon down and turned to face him directly. "I should be the one thanking you," I said quietly as I leaned against the counter top as well, the hunter's face confused. Seeing his baffled expression, I felt my face warm a bit with embarrassment as I looked at him and said, "Thank you for never giving up on me, for never leaving me but most of all," I said as a tiny smile crawled across my face. "Thank you for being a father to me".

**Sooooo? Howd I do ? :) Please please please review...please...oh and for those of you who haven't read my story Save Me...go read it! Pretty please :) Thank you!**


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